The steering group which includes a range of private and public sector businesses put a 79 page proposal in to the government for a share of the £160 million ‘my place’ fund which is distributed across boroughs to support youth initiatives.
Tim Mitchell, Chief Executive of Positive Steps Oldham, and group member said, ‘This is fantastic news for Oldham, we submitted the bid in September, and found out this week that we have been successful. Oldham council have donated the Marjory Lees site free of charge, for the development, which is a central location and easily accessible for young people. It shows Oldham is committed to investing in both young people, and the facilities that are available for them.’
‘We estimate that this club will be used by thousands of young people in Oldham each year, and throughout this process we have worked, and will continue to work with young people to ensure this development has the facilities they want and need.’
The initial stages involved extensive consultations with young people in Oldham and this will continue to be core to the project. Oldham Children and Youth Alliance Development Officer Laura Windsor-Welsh comments, ‘At the start of this project we consulted with around 2000 young people to get their views on what types of activities they would like to see at this development. We also held a consultation day with a further 100 young people to find out what they would use this facility for, how they would like it to look, and what times it should be open.’
‘Since then we have established a young person’s development group who have been working together for the past six months, they will work in partnership with the steering group to ensure this development is as successful as possible.’
The young people on the development group were told the good news last night. Lee Thompson (16), Vice Chair of the Young People’s Development Group commented on the news, ‘This will give young people in Oldham a chance to make new friends and at the same time will improve community cohesion like it never has before.’
Nazma Begum (15), Young People’s Development Group Chair, also added ‘We were absolutely thrilled when we heard about receiving the money. Young people are often not taken seriously but this new centre will change that. Young people being involved in the development of the centre will show that they can express their views and opinions about the activities that they want providing in Oldham and will allow young people to make key decisions on a very important project.’
